Hainer



(No Model.) 5 SheetsSheet 1.

G. A. GEISSENHAINER.

SWITCH AND. SIGNAL APPARATUS. No. 580,973. Patented Apr. 20, 1897.

I oer/for:

(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 4.

0. A. GEISSENHAINER. SWITCH. AND SIGNAL APPARATUS.

No. 580,973. Patented Apr. Z0, 1897.

' @KmwG. w

, -5, Sheets Shee t 5. G. Al'GEI SSENHAINER. SWITCH AND SIGNAL APPARATUS.

Pat entedApr.,-20, 1897.

, .A 3 t W m Q N M l A w m- A 5 m w w m M w h N Q R N m T2 I! w b w w W w k w .3 w w 5 1 E w T X .QQ 5% A m X y V wi a F (No Model.) 7

fioerrfor:

IJNITED STATES PATENT Crricn.

CHARLES A. GEISSENHAINER, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF TI'IREE-FOURTHS TO GEORGE W. GEISSENHAINER, CHARLES G. SMITH, AND ALBERT W. SMITH, OF SAME PLACE.

SWITCH AND SIGNAL APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 580,97 3, dated April 20, 1897. Application filed May 25, 1896- Serial No. 592,929. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern: sheltering said parts from injury. This box Be it known that I, CHARLES A. GEISSEN- a may be provided with a suitable door a HAINER, a resident of Pittsburg, in the county affording access to the interior thereof. EX- of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have tending up from the boX a is the tube a coninvented a new and useful Improvement in nected at its upper end to the signal-box a, Switch and Signal Apparatus; and I do herewhich has the openings of covered with colby declare the following to be a full, clear, ored glass for signaling purposes. On top of and exact description thereof. the signal-box a is mounted the arm b, to My invention relates to electrically-operwhich is pivoted at b the lever b At the IO ated switch and signal apparatus, its object outer end of the lever b is the indicator b being to provide a simple form of apparatus The lever b carrying the indicator 19 is which will be very positive and sure in its pivoted at b to the rod 0, said rod extending action. down to the bottom of the tower. The upper My invention comprises certain novel feaend of the rod 0 carries the signal-light c, I 5 tures in connection with such apparatus, all which stands opposite one of the openings a of which will be fully hereinafter set forth in whatever position the rod c a s's umes. and claimed. At the lower end of the rod 0 is the male To enable others skilled in the art to make screw 0 which engages with the female and use myinvention, I will describe the same threads cl on the sleeve d. This sleeve 02 is 20 more fully, referring to the accompanying secured to and revolves with the disk 01 said drawings, in which disk being revolved by the electric motor E. Figure l is a vertical section of my im- The motor illustrated is a simple type of proved apparatus. Fig. 2 is an enlarged vermotor, but other types may be employed. tical section of the motor and its connections. This motor E is mounted on the disk cl and 25 Fig. 3 is a like view taken at right angles to consists of the drum made up of alternate Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4 4, Fig. sections 6 e of insulating and conducting 2. Fig. 5 is a section on line 5 5, Fig. 3. Fig. material, respectively. Suspended within the 6 is a section on line 6 6, Fig. 3. Fig. 7 is an drum 6 are the electromagnets 6 said electroenlarged View, partly in section, of the lower magnets being secured to the plate 6 The 30 end of the apparatus looking in the direction commutator e is mounted on the sleeve d. of the arrow, Fig. 1. Fig. 8 is a section on The brushes 6 are supported in seats formed line 8 8, Fig. 1. Fig. 9 is a face view of for them in the hangers f, suspended from the device for turning on or shut-ting oif the the plate f. The brushes 6 have the studs current to the apparatus. Fig. 10 is a plan 6 formed thereon, which engage with recesses .35 view. Fig. 11 is an end view thereof. Figs. 6 in the hangers f. Springs (2 force the 12 and 13 are detail views of track-indicator, brushes 6 into contact with the commutator. and Fig. 14 is a diagrammatic View showing Insulating material f is interposed between in detail the path of the current from the ofthe hangers f and the plate f.

fice instrument to track instrument and re- The rack-bar g has the rings g, which en- 40 turn. gage with the rod 0, said rack-bar ascending Like letters and numerals indicate like and descending with the rod 0. The teeth 9 parts in each of the figures. on the rack-bar 9 correspond in number to While I do not limit myself to the exact the length of the stroke of the male screw, form of my apparatus illustrated in Fig. 1, and said teeth engage with the spur-Wheel g 45 yet it illustrates a simple and convenient mounted in bearings g on the plate f. The 5 form. circumference of the wheel 9 corresponds to The tower consists of the hollow base or the stroke necessary for the movement of the support a, upon which the box a rests, said switch. The shaft on which the spur-wheel box containing a motor and certain other 9 is mounted carriesa crank 9 to the wrist- 50 parts, hereinafter more fully described, and pin of which is attached the pitman g. The

other end of the pitman is connected to the sliding head 71, which is adapted to move back and forth in the guide it on the plate 71?. The sliding head h carries a pawl or trigger 2, set on a stud t. The trigger 2 is held Mounted on a pin] at the upper end of the standard j is the pendent arm 7;, said arm being held normally in a vertical position by means of the weighted arm 7;. A lug on the plate 7L2 forms a stop for the pendent arm 70, so that said arm is only free to swing in one direction.

The lower end of the rod 0 instead of being round has the portion 0 which is angular in cross-section, as shown in Fig. 8. This angular portion 0 engages with the V-shaped guides c", and in this manner the rod 0 is held from turning, but is permitted to move up and down. The angular portion 0 of the rod 0 has the opening 0 therein,within which are located the pins Z Z. A bell-crank lever in is keyed on a shaft it, mounted in bearings a at the base of the tower. This bellcrank lever in has the recesses in m formed at its outer ends, with which the pins Z Z respectively engage. A similar bell-crank levero is keyed to the same shaft n at right angles to the lever in. This lever 0 has also the recesses o 0 formed in its outer ends, adapted to engage pins pp on the switchlever 132, which moves in guides p, as shown in Fig. 7.

Figs. Si, 10, and 11 illustratethe device for turning on and shutting off the current to the motor E. This instrument is to be located atsuitable switch-stations which are situated at convenient distances along the road.

The frame 7 of the instrument is mounted on the plate 1'. Supported on the frame 0' is the eleetromagnct s. The armatures s are secured to the inwardly-extending portions '6 15, respectively, of the rods t 6*. The rods 2' 1? are connected to connecting-strap t. The strap 15 has the handle Rings t 011 the fingers t on the strap 25 are adapted to move along the rods 11. u. The rings '1; on the rod u act as stops for the movement of the fingers i in both directions. The letter w throughout Figs. 0, 10, and 11 indicates insulating material.

Depending from the handle t is the toothed plate as, said plate engaging with the teeth of the sector 1 keyed to the shaft 1 The weight 1 is attached to the shafty, and said weight is adapted to hold said sector y normallyin the position shown in full lines in Fig. 9.

On the shaft 1 is a gear-wheel .2, which meshes with the gear-wheel .2, loosely mounted on the shaft .2 said shaft carryin ratchet keyed thereto and revolving therewith.

The gear-wheel .2" carries two pawls z'flwhich act upon the ratchetz to revolve shaftz' At the forward end of shaft is the finger .2 so connected as to revolve therewith. At the rear end of said shaft, as shown in Fig. 13, is the wheel .2, having indentations .2 in its periphery. The shaft .2 is held from following the return movement of the gear .2" by means of the leaf-spring 2 which holds the lug .2 in the indentations in wheel .2 This keeps the finger 2 from moving except when ratchet .2 is acted upon by one of the pawls .1 2 As shown in Fig. 19, the hand points to )0. i, which indicates that the central track is open. Now if the operator wishes to throw the switch over to track 1 he moves the handle t in direction of arrow, Fig. 10, thus moving weight 1 to position shown in dotted lines, Fig. 9, the gear-wheelsz revolving in direction of arrows shown in Fig. 12. The pawl will engage the ratchet .2 and carry the finger from the point 2 till it registers with 1. The pawl .2 will drop by its own weight from the ratchet and when the electric current is broken the weight 7 returns the frame carrying the contacts t to their normal positions and the gears .2" follow the reverse movement of the shaft 7 The lug z, however, engaging with the indentations .2 of wheel 2", keeps the shaft from returning until the switch is moved in the reverse direction from that shown by arrow, Fig. 10. It will be noticed that upon the return movement of the shaft, as just described, the pawls .2" return to the position shown in Fig. 1.2 without acting upon the ratchet to turn the shaft, the pawl riding freely over the ratchet, and the pawl .2, being kept in a vertical position by its own weight, does not engage with the teeth of the ratchet .2" until the normal position is reached.

The wires for carrying the current are represented by the numerals l 2 3 4-, &c.

The operation of my improved apparatus is as follows: \Vhen the indicator b is in the position shown in Fig. 1 and it is desired to raise it and at the same time operate the switch, the operator at the proper station throws the handle i to the left, bringing one pair of the rings t into contact with the stop a and the armature .5" into contact; with the core of the electromagnet The current passes from the battery by wire 1 to the frame "1', along the rod 11, through the finger 2' as shown in dotted lines, Fig. 0, to the ring 1:, thence by way of the wire 2 to the coils of the electromagnet, an d from the coils by the wire 3 to the motor E. The wire 3 is connected to the plate 71 so that the current is conveyed therefrom to the arm 7.", down the standard j, along the wire 4 to the brush 0:, thence to the com mutator e". The current thus brought to the commutator is collected therefrom by the brushes 0 and carried through the spring e, wire 5, to one pair of the electromagnets, whereupon the drum 0 will be rotated together with the sleeve (Z and commutator e, the current pass- After passing through the magnets the cur rent returns by the other wire (marked to the other spring a", through brush e 'to the lower commutator, thence through the brush at and wire 6 to the ground. From the ground it follows wire 7 to the ring 0), along the finger t to bar a (the bars a and n being insulated from each other at 2B,) and thence to battery. The rotation of the sleeve d with its female threads engaging the male screw 0 will elevate the rod 0. As the rodc ascends the indicator b will be raised to give the signal, or if it be at night the signal-light 0 will be opposite the top opening a Furthermore, as the rod 0 ascends, the pin Z, engaging with the recess m will raise the lever m and rock the shaft .02. The other lever 0 will move with its recess o in engagement with the pin 19 on the switch-lever 19 the recess 0 disengaging itself from the pin p of the switch-lever p at the same time. In this manner the switchlever 132 will be drawn in and the switch operated. Meanwhile by the ascent of the rod 0 the rack-bar g has revolved the spur-wheel g causing said wheel to make a complete revolution. The first half of the revolution of the spur-wheel 9 drives the sliding head hover to the extreme left of the guide h. The triggert'in this movement of the sliding head is permitted to pass the pendent arm 70, but upon the last half of the revolution of the wheel 9 the sliding head It moves back to the right of the guide h. The trigger 2' comes in contact with the pendent arm k, and as said trigger is held from turning in that direction it carries the arm in with it to the position shown in dotted lines, Fig. 2, where the pendent arm is just being freed from the trigger to fall back to its position as shown in full lines. As the current passes by way of the trigger to the pendent arm 70 and thence to the motor, it is apparent that just as soon as the arm 76 is released from the trigger the circuit will be broken and the motor stopped. This will occur the instant the indicator b has been raised to the proper position and the switch-lever has been operated. At the same time the instant the circuit is broken the magnet of the electromagnet s will be demagnetized, whereupon the Weight 11 on the shaft 12 will move the sector y back to the position shown in full lines, Fig. 9. The sectorworking in the teeth of the plate 00 will bring the parts of the instrument to the positions shown in Fig. 9, When the current will be shut off.

To reverse the current and lower the indicator, it is only necessary to push the handle 25 to the right, when the operation hereinbefore described is repeated in a reverse direction. The current will follow wire 1 to the bar a and finger 27, as before, but the finger now being in the position shown in dotted lines, Fig. 14:, the current passes to the ring '0 first, thence through wire 7 to ground, and, as will be readily seen, the current will follow a course exactly opposite to that hereinbefore outlined, returning by way of wire 3, magnet 3, wire 2, ring r, finger t and bar it to battery.

I do not limit myself to the exact construction set forth in the drawings, but claim all equivalent constructions. It is apparent that the apparatus may be employed for signal ing purposes alone, or, if desired, only for switching purposes, and that it may be employed in a horizontal position where it is convenient to operate it in that way.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In apparatus for operating switches or signals, the combination of a longitudinallymovable rod, a screw 011 said rod, a rotatable sleeve engaging said screw, an electric motor on said sleeve, tripping mechanism for cutting off the current to said motor, and con nections between said rod and said tripping mechanism, substantially as set forth.

2. In apparatus for operating switches or signals, the combination of a longitudinallymovable rod, an electric motor for operating said rod, said rod having teeth thereon,a spurwheel engaged by said teeth, tripping mechanism for cutting off the current to said motor, and connections between said spur-wheel and said tripping mechanism, substantially as set forth.

3. In apparatus for operating switches or signals, the combination of a longitudinallymovable rod, an electric motor for operating said rod, a rack-bar on said rod, a spur-wheel engaged by said rack-bar, a sliding trigger adapted to cut off the current from said motor, and connections between said sliding trigger and said spur-wheel, substantially as set forth.

4. In apparatus for operating switches or signals, the combination of a longitudinallymovable rod, an electric motor for operating said rod, a rack-bar on said rod, a spur-wheel engaged by said rack-bar, a sliding head, connections between said spur-wheel and sliding head, a trigger on said sliding head, a pendent arm engaged by said trigger, and electrical connections between said trigger and said motor, substantially as set forth.

5. In apparatus for operating switches or signals, the combination of a longitudinallymovable rod, an electric motor for operating said rod, a sliding trigger, connections between said rod and said trigger, a pendent arm engaged by said trigger, and electrical connections between said trigger and said motor, substantially as set forth.

6. In apparatus for operating switches or signals, the combination of a longitudinallymovable signal-rod, an electric motor for operating said rod, a sliding trigger, connections between said rod and said trigger, a pendent arm engaged by said trigger, a stop in the path of said arm and electrical connections between said trigger and the motor, in one direction, substantially as set forth.

7. In apparatus for operating switches or IIC signals, the combination of a longitudinallymovable rod, an electric motor for operating said rod, a sliding trigger, connections between said rod and said trigger, a pendent arm engaged by said trigger, a stop in the path of said arm in one direction, a weight for holding said arm normally in contact with said stop, and electrical connections between said trigger and said motor, substantially as set forth.

8. In apparatus for operating switches or signals, the combination of a longitudinallymovable rod, an electric motor for operating said rod, a rack-bar on said rod, a spur-wheel engaged by said rack-bar, a crank, a pitman, a sliding head connected to said pitman, a triggeron said sliding head, a pendent arm engaged by said trigger, and electrical connections between said trigger and the motor, substantially as set forth.

9. In apparatus for operating switches or signals, the combination of a longitudinallymovable rod, a bell-crank lever having recesses therein adapted to engage pins on said rod, a second bell-crank lever mounted at an angle to said first bell-crank lever and havin g recesses therein, and switch-levers having projections thereon engaged by said second bell-crank lever, substantially as set forth.

10. In a device for applying the current to electrically-operated switch, or signal, apparatus, the combination of an electromagnet, a sliding frame, armatures on said frame adapted to be brought into contact with said electromagnet, connections between said frame and a suitable dynamo, and between said frame and the electromagnet, and mechanism for holding both of said armatures normally out of engagement with said electromagnct, substantially as set forth.

11. In a device for applying the current to ,electrically-operated switch, or signal, apparatus, the combination with a suitable support, of an electromagnet, a sliding frame on said supp0rt,armatures on said frame adapted to be brought into contact with said electromagnet, connections between said support and a suitable dynamo, a toothed arm depending from said frame, a toothed sector engaged by said arm, and a weight on the shaft carrying said sector, and connections between said shaft and a track-indicator, substantially as set forth.

12. In a device for applying the current to electrical] -operated switch, or signal, apparatus, the combination of an electromagnet, a sliding frame, armatures on said frame adapted to be brought into contact with said electromagnet, means for transmitting a current to said eleetromagnet through said sliding frame, and connections between said slidin g frame and a track-indicator, substantially as set forth.

13. In a device for applying the current to electrically-operated switch, or signal, apparatus, the combination of an electromagnet, a sliding frame, armatures on said frame adapted to be brought into contact with said electromagnet, means for transmitting a current to said electromagnet through said sliding frame, a shaft adapted to be turned by said sliding frame, and connections between said shaft and a track-indicator, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I, the said CHARLES A. GEISSENHAINER, have hereunto set my hand.

CH ARLES A. GEISSENIIAINER.

\Vitnesses:

ROBT. D. TOTTEN, ROBERT C. TOTTEN. 

